The day has dawned bright and crisp, a perfect example of early autumn in Nentir Vale and a thrill of excitement shivers down your spine for today is the day. Your training is nearly complete, only one test remains, said Master Stahl a day ago, then you smell the delectable aroma of breakfast through your open bedroom window. Looking out you see two of your fellow wards practicing with blunted iron weapons in the yard, but they stop and turn as the smell reaches them too. You know that all of your classmates must be up as well and so you dash to your wardrobe to garb yourself, Torm forbid you be the last to breakfast! Then it hits again, TODAY IS THE DAY! You are dressed and out the door before the sun-glowing motes of dust can settle on your bed...

[Game Master]
That would be me, Sillaric

[Game Explanation]
This game will take H-P-E series of adventures and convert them for use in the Realms. The theme here is young adventurers, well-trained but wholly untested facing a dark world. The game will open with Keep on the Shadowfell then continue on through H-P-E series of adventures modified to fit in the Realms. In the Realms Nentir Vale runs west from the edges of Deepingdale to the northeastern flanks of the Thunder Peaks. Time-period wise this game will take place just before (and if it survives will take into account the events of) the Sundering, beginning in 1483 DR, the Year of the Tasked Weasel.

[Application Process]
Post your application as its own thread in the APPLICATIONS folder in the game forum in the following format (you can include your statblock at the bottom if you want, but it cannot replace the regular format):

Character Name:
Gender/Race:
Class/Build:

Physical/Personality Description: A paragraph or more (2 max please) describing your character's physical appearance (or common faces/shapes for shapechangers) and personality. If you want to put secrets into your characters personality you can "private tag" them in this area. Include how your character reacts to stress/danger, how your character dresses in the field, in the tavern, etc and how he/she generally deals with others socially.

Background: No more than 3-4 paragraphs (2 is fine if you can get the point across that quickly). Please see below for some guidance on how this needs to be.

[Character Creation]
Level 1, standard 22-pt buy and starting gold/equipment as written in the PHB. You will receive a single weapon/implement for free to don't spend anything on that. Of special note you will be beginning the game as wards of the famed explorer/adventurer Douven Stahl. Whether you are one of his actual children (he is a human male and his wife is a half-elven female) or one of the three dozen or so youths given into his care for protection and training over his 5 decades of adventuring life, you are of the last group made ready for a life of danger and heroism. Creatures from all walks of life, all races and many parts of the world have grown up or trained with Douven as his fame is widely known and he has contacts across the known world and from many of the world's goodly realms and organizations.

A special note about how you create your character. For Realms games I care more than anything how much you embed a character into the Realms. You can be as wild and creative as you like, but they must feel like a Realms character. If want to make a shifter or a warforged go ahead, but you better explain why in a convincing and compelling matter. That said, have fun!

[Sources allowed]
Basically everything as long as its been added into the Character Builder/Compendium. I own all of books but I generally game with nothing but my laptop handy. Also, while I'm not disallowing hybrids, I don't like them. Use the mechanic at your own risk.

Physical/Personality Description: Dak is an 18 year old greenish skinned Githzerai, with a series of tattoos that cover his arms and legs, forming a not too bad-looking illustration. He has a very angular face, more so than even most Razorclaws. His preferred weapon is his mind, using a fancy orb as a focus for his powers. Sometimes he reads peoples minds for fun, sometimes causing havoc. He dresses very conservatively, preferring movement over protection usually never even wearing footwear unless absolutely necessary. He always stands out when forced to wear fancy garb, it is obvious he is neither used to them, nor likes them.

Background: when he was young only about 4 years old, his father and mother were banished for some ludicrous crime, and he was banished with them. He was found by a forester crying over two corpses, almost impossible to tell they were even humanoid in life. The man that found him took him in, his own family had been slain nearly a year ago in a bugbear raid. Over the next few years he tried teaching the boy his craft, but Dak's real interest was in adventuring; his idol was a human by the name of Douven Stahl, an adventurer with great renown. When the boy's 14th birthday came and went the man finally decided to ask him who the two corpses were, and what had happened to them. At first, Dak didn't know what he meant, but then his memories came back in a flash, causing him to have a panic attack and nearly destroying the man's frail mind. When he finally was brought back to consciousness by the towns healer, he was told by the other villagers that Dak was gone and left behind a note that was written in complete gibberish, not even a real language.
Soon after Dak ran away he found out that was actually teaching young adventurers, and that he was admitting the final students he would ever teach. He was overjoyed, and fearful at the same time, hoping he might be one of those few, but anxious that he might be turned away by his idol...

Distract
Encounter ✦ Psionic
Minor Action
Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Level 11: One or two creatures
Level 21: One, two, or three creatures
Effect: The target grants combat advantage to the next creature that attacks it before the end of your next turn.

Send Thoughts
Encounter ✦ Psionic
Free Action
Ranged 20
Target: One creature that shares a language with you
Effect: You send a mental message of 25 words or fewer to the target. The target can respond in kind as a free action.

Memory Hole
At-Will ✦ Augmentable, Implement, Psionic, Psychic Standard Action Ranged 10 Target: One creature Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier psychic damage. and you become invisible to the target until the start of your next tum_
Augment 1 Hit: As above, but the invisibility lasts until the end of your
next turn. Augment 2
Area burst 1 within 10 squares Target: Each creature in burst Hit: 2d6 + Intelligence modifier psychic damage, and you
become invisible to the target until the start of your next turn.

Mind Thrust
At-Will ✦ Augmentable, Implement, Psionic, Psychic
Standard Action
Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
HIt: 1d10 + Intelligence modifier psychic damage. Special: You can use this power unaugmented as a ranged basic attack.
Augment 1
HIt: As above. and the target takes a penalty to Will equal to your Charisma modifier until the end of your next turn.
Augment 2
Hit: 2d10 + Intelligence modifier psychic damage, and
the target takes a penalty to all defenses equal to your Charisma modifier until the end of your next turn.

Description:
Isolated from the bloodthirsty savagery of his people has done a world of good for the young gnoll. His fur is shadowy, with blotches of tan. With his free time and money he has started to dye patterns into his arms and shoulders much like the furless would ornament themselves with tattoos. Despite his ferocious countenance, that baleful predatorialism doesn't extend to his amber colored eyes, which seem gentle and endless. He prefers natural clothing, though the more exotic the better. If an animal can be killed and turned into something tight fitting that shows off his arms, he'll wear it. In the field, he prefers a chainmail shirt, and has taken to the gold standard of human weaponry: the longsword.

Background:
Orphaned by a thinning between reality and the feywild, which dragged his rather spartan warcamp into an inhospitable winter realm at the age of 4. As the heir to the tribe cheiftain, he didn't understand that the rest of his pack slowly starved as food and hunting became scarce, and Eladrin incursions started thinning out the providers. His belly wasn't full, but he didn't suffer like the others. When the fey war party came to clear out the camp once and for all, they found the young gnoll hidden under a deer hide, using the infamous gnoll vocal mimicry to emit the noises of an dire ostrich to try and scare them off.

Amused by this, the boy was taken to the Winter Court as a living piece of art, to show off his unusual gift for mimicing sounds he has heard. Though not really treated as a person, the timeless Eladrin take care of their possessions, and made sure he received proper food and exercise. The only -care- he received was the bemused detached applause of the people he entertained, something he grew to cherish. He became substantially -less- whimsical to have around as he approached puberty, and was soon abandoned in the fringes of Nintir Vale, a place far from his tribe's ancestral pridelands.

He became slightly despondant at being removed from the flawless natural beauty on the other side of the mirror, the only home he could remember anymore. The world seemed greyer, the air staler, the food blander. The otherside felt like home... the prime material plane seemed like a hateful punishment for a crime he didn't comprehend. A trading caravan found the boy during one of his many near-suicidal attempts to breach the feywild again, and dropped him off with the only person capable of handling such an unusual orphan: Douven Stahl. With an actual role model and receiving actual care, he slowly found a renewed zeal for his life. Even though the material plane was banal, it was up to people like him to make the world shine for good decent people. The world would be his masterpiece.

Physical/Personality Description: Sever unlike most revenants, does not seemed detached and distanced. That being said he is not overtly friendly either. He generally will keep to himself in unfamiliar surroundings but will make the attempt to be socialble if among trusted companions.He is unsure of why The Raven Queen has returned him to service, and thus he pursues any news of opposition or perversion of Death's ideals relentlessly, hoping that each one takes him a step closer to returning to death's eternal slumber.

Sever stands slightly below six feet tall. He bears the ashen skin of all revenants and his eyes are black with pintpoints of red in the middle. When angered or in the heat of battle the red begins to radiate out to the other parts of his eyes and they begin to glow with an eerie red colour. Sever wears a simple black tunic and pants with white and grey trim. He dons a cloak as well, black on the outside and charcoal grey on the inside. A simple motif of feathers, trim the cloak. A pair of black gloves round out the outfit.

Background: You know. glimpses are all you see. Glimpses of a smile, or a tear or a well manicured hand. Perhaps a fleeting memory. The laughter that accompanies the smile, the twinge of regreat that accompanies the tear, the touch of that well manicured hand. At times not so pleasant. The smile turned frown, the tear turned into screams, that well manicured hand turned lifeless, stained with blood.

These are but fleeting glimpses into a life long past. The Raven Queen has brought me back to serve, and serve her I shall. Till the day when, I have completed all the tasks she lays before me and I can sleep in death's embrace once more.

Samuel is an energetic young man, with a desire to prove himself. As such, he has trouble keeping still, often tapping his foot or drumming with his fingers when forced to sit down and listen. He generally learns things by doing them, and not by reading or listening about them. As such, he can come off as an idiot sometimes.

Samuel is generally cheerful, and although it usually takes time for him to get to know someone, he's usually established a life-long friend once he has. His favorite topics of conversation are about adventures and far-away places; it's no secret that he wants to become a great adventurer, like his father.

One thing about Samuel is that he's surprisingly perceptive. He can pick up on details about the environment and people that one wouldn't expect him too, given his great amount of energy. While this has sometimes gotten him into trouble, they're talents that his father have encouraged him to develop. "Better to see the goblin coming from behind," is a saying that Samuel's heard a lot, needless to say.

Samuel stands at a little over 6 feet tall, and he possesses dark brown eyes that look black if one gives them a cursory glance. He generally keeps his black hair short, and has grown a small beard that he keeps trimmed daily. He has the slightest hint of a point on the tips of his ears, the only real hint that the miniscule amount of elven blood flowing through him; not nearly enough to make him remotely fey.

Samuel wears a set of old scale armor, given to him by his father (it was, in fact, the first set of armor that Douven had ever worn.) His weapons are also generally gifts from Douven, all of them trophies from the famed adventurer's many escapades. The axe bears the symbol of Moradin on it, and is clearly dwarf-made. The longsword has several intricate leafy designs on its hilt and blade, and was likely forged by the eladrin in the Feywild. His mace was crafted by a goliath tribe, and bears several charms on it said to be pleasing to the primal spirits. And his javelin was obtained from a halfling clan, designed for fishing but sufficing as a tool of war.

Samuel's shield was given to him by Kerrick, a half-orc who trained under Douven and whom Samuel struck up a friendship with. It bears on it the symbol of the battle-god Kord, the only deity to whom Samuel really prays regularly. Old enough as to where no one can truly say where it was created, the shield is as reliable as the day Samuel got it.

Samuel Stahl is the son of the famed adventurer, Douven Stahl. As such, all his life he's been raised on stories about the exploits of his father, and grew up in a household filled with trophies from Douven's various adventures. As soon as he was able, Samuel began to train, desiring to emulate his famous father. Although his mother was naturally apprehensive at first, Douven eventually managed to convince her to allow Samuel to do so; he reasoned that the world was dangerous enough that having the knowledge to defend himself would be vital. Douven was also happy that his son was following in his footsteps.

As Samuel possessed no talent for arcane magic, nor was he particularly religious, he opted for weapon training. The young boy would often spar with some of the students that Douven had taken in (the ones who would consent to fighting with a little boy, at any rate). As such, Samuel picked up an eclectic set of techniques utilizing a bunch of different weapons. Rather then specializing with one, Samuel instead opted to use many weapons, switching the weapon he used on the fly as was necessary.

Eventually, Samuel's talent grew enough that Douven began teaching him personally, as part of the latest group of recruits that he'd taken in. Despite being Douven's son, Samuel was worked to the bone as hard as any of the other wards. During his training, a new ambition was sparked within Samuel; he wished to surpass his father, and become a greater adventurer than Douven. Every time his swung his sword or hefted his spear, he trained with this goal in mind. Soon would be the day that he would step into the world, and Samuel Stahl was determined that he would leave his mark on it; not as the son of Douven Stahl, but a powerful hero in his own right.

Combat Challenge
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon
Immediate Interrupt Melee
Effect: Whenever an enemy marked by you is adjacent to you and shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against that enemy.

Weapon Master's Strike
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Effect: Before making this attack, you may sheathe a weapon and draw a different one as a free action.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage. In addition, the target takes an additional effect based on the weapon you wield.
- Axe: The target takes extra damage equal to your Constitution modifier.
- Mace: You slide the target 1 square.
- Heavy Blade: Until the end of your next turn, you gain a +1 power bonus to AC against the target’s attacks.
- Spear or Polearm: Until the end of your next turn, the target provokes opportunity attacks from you when it shifts.

Shield Feint
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be using a shield.
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you gain a +3 power bonus to your next attack roll against the target before the end of your next turn.

Threatening Rush
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] damage, and you mark each enemy adjacent to you until the end of your next turn.
Special: When charging, you can use this power in place of a melee basic attack.

Villain's Menace
Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you gain a +2 power bonus to attack rolls and a +4 power bonus to damage rolls against the target until the end of the encounter.
Miss: Gain a +1 power bonus to attack rolls and a +2 power bonus to damage rolls against the target until the end of the encounter.

Stone Fist Flurry of Blows
Encounter ✦ Psionic
Free Action
Melee 1
Trigger: You hit with an attack during your turn
Target: One creature
Effect: The target takes damage equal to 3 + your Strength modifier. If the target wasn’t targeted by the triggering attack, the damage increases by 2.
Special: You can use this power only once per round.

In combat, it’s dangerous to ignore a fighter. Every time you attack an enemy, whether the attack hits or misses, you can choose to mark that target. The mark lasts until the end of your next turn. While a target is marked, it takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls if its attack doesn’t include you as a target. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place.
In addition, you gain the Combat Challenge power.

You gain a bonus to opportunity attacks equal to your Wisdom modifier. An enemy struck by your opportunity attack stops moving, if a move provoked the attack. If it still has actions remaining, it can use them to resume moving.

Prerequisite: Dex 13
Benefit: You gain training in one skill from the monk’s class skills list.
Choose one of the monk’s Flurry of Blows powers. You can use that power once per encounter.
In addition, you can wield monk implements when using monk powers and monk paragon path powers.

Benefit: Choose a weapon group. You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any weapon power you use with a weapon from that group. The bonus increases to +2 at 15th level and +3 at 25th level.
Special: You can take this feat more than once. Each time you select this feat, choose another weapon group.

Physical/Personality Description: Froth is a very determined and guided spirit. He is different from others in his clan in that he finds the need to help the group and not seek individual gain weather in status, wealth, or power. He seeks to better the world around him and help to inegrate his species with the surrounding settlements.

He stands a beastly 7'2" and has one black horn. This black horn is the signature trait of his family from his father's side. He has a dark brown and black pelt that covers his body that accents the brown and black horns.

Background: Froth was born as the calf of the great shaman Blackhorn Strongheart. Knowledge of the birth came to Blackhorn through his spirit bear when the cub for the spirit bear was born in the foriegn plane. This spirit, a large brown bear named Boulder, was instanlty linked to the spirit that would eventually form in to Froth. Froth learned much about the tribal life from his father. the rituals that they perform and how to call upon his friend Boulder when in need of the companionship weather in battle.

Froth is now to the stage in his life where he must prove himself and is ready to start his quest to do so. Blackhorn sent Froth out younger than most to start this quest and Froth came upon Douven. At there intial encounter Douven noticed a difference in Froth than he had seen in many minotaurs he had encoutered before. He has taken Froth under his tutelage for the past few years and guided this internal light. There is one concern that Froth has kept inside. His view of the world, as well as Boulder, differ from those of their patriarchs. Froth has always wondered if the fact that his single blackhorn is opposite of the one his father has while Boulder has the same with his one front paw.